


day 13: anniversary

by awesomems



Series: Summer Pride Challenge 2019 [12]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2020-06-27 09:30:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19788082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awesomems/pseuds/awesomems
Summary: in 1944, bucky barnes died. steve still hasn't fully processed his grief, even if he's not dead anymore.





	day 13: anniversary

_ he was there all over again, watching him fall, disappearing into the snowy cliffs of the ravine. the screaming became more distant, but he couldn’t even manage a shout of his name.  _

steve woke with a start. he looked over at the other side of the bed and breathed a sigh of relief. he tried his best to wrap his arms around bucky without waking him up, but to no avail. 

“you alright?” he asked. he turned over onto his back to be able to look at steve (as best he could in the dark at least).

“yeah,” steve assured. “yeah, it’s okay. you’re here.” bucky didn’t say anything else, opting to rest his head on steve’s chest. he was definitely confused but he knew steve would tell him on his own time. steve held him close as they went back to sleep (like he would lose him if he didn’t). 

the next morning, bucky asked, “do you want to talk about last night?” steve looked like he was deep in thought, so he added, “you don’t have to, of course.” 

after at least another thirty seconds of silence, steve finally said, “eighty years ago today, you fell from that train in austria. i thought i lost you, buck.” he whispered the last part, looking up with tears in his eyes. 

“you didn’t lose me. i’m still here, aren’t i?” 

“i know. it just felt like i was right back there, unable to do anything while i just watched. but you survived, and that’s what matters.”

“that’s what matters,” bucky repeated. he cradled steve’s face in his hands and wiped away the tears with his thumbs. steve closed the gap between them and bucky moved his arms to hang off steve’s shoulders. the kiss was slow, longing, as if they were afraid letting go would cause the other person to disappear right before their eyes. 

when they were finally forced to pull away by a need for air, bucky said, “i’m not going anywhere. and when i do die, it’s gonna take a lot more than a two hundred-foot drop to kill me.”

“you always have been stubborn.” 

  
  



End file.
